Those were heady days indeed: the reset; smart power; leading from behind. These, like spiking the football, played well in the mainstream press. After all, this sort of excitement was a reflection of the bold re-emergence of… what? The bipolarity of the Cold War?

Russia’s most senior military officer said Thursday that Moscow would pre-emptively strike and destroy U.S.-led NATO missile defense sites in Eastern Europe if talks with Washington about the developing system continue to stall.

“A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” Russian Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov said at an international missile defense conference in Moscow attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials.

Of course this is simply vacuous saber rattling by the Russians but it shows their level of fear regarding missile defense. Still, the idea that we could get cooperation from them when it’s contrary to being completely in their interests is both amateurish and shortsighted.

Can we finally admit the Russians are all about the Russians and just aren’t that into us?

But during their relationship [ex-girlfriend Genevieve] Cook and her lover did often talk about race and when they did Mr Obama was quite revealing.

The book reads that it was part of his ‘inner need to find a sense of belonging’ and Ms Cook encouraged it.

The book reads: ‘If she felt like an outsider, he was a double outsider, racial and cross-cultural. He looked black, but was he? He confessed to her that at times: ‘He felt like an imposter. Because he was so white. There was hardly a black bone in his body.’

‘At some point that summer she realized that: ‘In his own quest to resolve his ambivalence about black and white, it became very, very clear to me that he needed to go black.’

If there is such a thing as a hyphenated American, President Obama is it: African father + American mother = African-American, right? And if his mother had been from Paris, he could have been an African-French (or is it African-Franco?). But if that had happened, lacking U.S. citizenship, he would have missed out on his opportunity to be president.

We’ve already seen he (the President) has loosed the lightening of his terrible swift (economic) sword and now, his (composite) truth is marching on. Thankfully, there’s an alternative.

Here’s what Cinco de Mayo has become in the U.S.: a celebration of all things Mexican, from mariachi music to sombreros, marked by schools, politicians and companies selling everything from beans to beer.

And here’s what Cinco de Mayo is not, despite all the signs in bar windows inviting revelers to drink: It’s not Mexico’s Independence Day, and it’s barely marked in Mexico, except in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is rooted in a complicated and short-lived 1862 military victory over the French.

But don’t let that spoil the party.

I also thought Hallmark invented the holiday in order to sell some cards. Like “Secretary Day,” you know?

My recommendation? Party like you’re Chad Ocho Cinco de Mayo and take home a twelve-pack of Booty Sweat today.

The financial crisis has fully exposed the intellectual bankruptcy of the world’s central bankers.

Why? Central bankers neglect the fact that interest rates are prices. Manipulating those prices through credit expansion or contraction has real and deleterious effects on the economy. Yet while socialism and centralised [sic] economic planning have largely been rejected by free-market economists, the myth persists that central banks are a necessary component of market economies.

Snip to the bottom line:

Printing unlimited amounts of money does not lead to unlimited prosperity.

If Paul had earlier come around on a few more issues, the nomination—in my mind—could have been his. But he didn’t.

“I listed myself in the [law school] directory in the hopes that it might mean that I would be invited to a luncheon, a group something that might happen with people who are like I am. Nothing like that ever happened, that was clearly not the use for it and so I stopped checking it off,” said Warren.

Warren’s statement fails to pass the smell test. I’m shocked her campaign hasn’t placed the issue off-limits for both the media and the candidate.

I’m also disappointed no one seems to have photoshopped a headdress onto Warren’s mug.

Driven by a capital gains tax cut that took effect on January 1, 1997, RBNRFI grew by 38.6% during the first three years of Clinton’s second presidential term. Over the same period, RGDP [real GDP] increased by 14.3%, and total employment increased by 5.2%.

The comparable numbers for Bush 43’s second term were, RBNRFI: 22.7%; RGDP: 7.8%; total employment: 4.4%.

During the first three years of Obama’s term, his economic performance can be summarized as follows: RBNRFI: -6.6%; RGDP: 1.2%; total employment: -1.8%.

Democrats will say it was the economy we inherited from Bush. Democrat strategists will hope the citizenry has become desensitized to the steady stream of bad news. Republicans will be offer we can do far better. Cynics will say you get the government you deserve.